The Board of Directors (BoD) of JDW Sugar Mills Limited (JDWS), a manufacturer of crystalline sugar, has announced to set up an ethanol distillery.
The listed company shared the development in its notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday.
“The board has resolved to set up an ethanol/ distillery project having per day production capacity of 200,000-230,000 litres,” read the notice.
The company said the ethanol/ distillery project will be state of the art, and will produce export-quality ethanol from its in-house available sugar molasses.
Ethanol is an important industrial chemical used as a solvent, in the synthesis of other organic chemicals, and as an additive to automotive gasoline.
“The ethanol project is expected to achieve COD [Commercial Operation Date] by January 2025, subject to fulfilment of all corporate and regulatory requirements,” added the notice.
JDWS was set up as a private limited company in 1990 under the Companies Ordinance, 1984. A year later in 1991, it was converted into a public limited company. The company produces and sells crystalline sugar, electricity and manages corporate farms.
As per the company’s latest financial results announced for the financial year ended on September 30, 2023, JDWS posted a profit of Rs3.44 billion as compared to Rs4.32 billion, a drop of over 20%.
Resultantly, the earnings per share of the company stood at Rs54.62 per share, as compared to Rs72.28 per share in the same period last year.
The board recommended a final cash dividend of Rs15 i.e. 150% per share. This was in addition to interim cash dividends of Rs25 per share already disbursed, totalling Rs40 per share for the financial year ending on September 30, 2023.